Surgical procedures often require sutures to ligate, join or otherwise treat tissue. Generally, suture needles with attached suture strands are grasped either manually or by forceps and passed through the desired work site so a knot can be tied. While the procedures are fairly uncomplicated in open surgery where most suture sites are readily accessible, in endoscopic procedures, where access to the work site is not readily available, the surgeon must use auxiliary devices to grasp the suture strands and pass them through desired tissue.
Various instruments and techniques have been developed and are known for surgical repairs requiring the passing of sutures to distant locations. Certain suture passers deploy a suture snare within the joint space during arthroscopic surgery. Due to the limited space within the joint, deployment of the snare is often challenging. A suture passer (snare) with reduced space requirement for the device is needed. Also needed are improved devices and techniques that enable the surgeon to pass sutures arthroscopically to an internal body part where the work site is only accessible through a small portal or cannula and it is difficult to pass sutures within the body.